‘Betrayal’ fury at snub for UK bid to fish near the Falklands
A BRITISH businessman told yesterday of his plans to revive our hardpressed fishing industry by launching a new multi-million pound battle of the South Atlantic.
SG Fisheries chief Rupert Street wants to create hundreds of jobs by securing the rights to fish around the British overseas territory of South Georgia, near the Falklands.
The former Army officer applied for one of six lucrative permits to catch a restaurant favourite dubbed “posh cod”. But governors on the island awarded four of the licences to Norway, one to Chile and one to New Zealand. With the advice and backing of the Foreign Office, they snubbed the only UK application.
Mr Street is now going to the High Court in London to seek a judicial review of the decision he sees as a Government betrayal of a key British industry.
Mr Street said he was stunned his bid was rejected by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and the islanders who were freed after a month’s occupation during the 1982 Falklands War.
He believes that if he won the fouryear licence, worth an estimated £100million, he would use it to lead British fishermen out of the doldrums.
Mr Street’s counsel, Lawrence Power, will try to convince James Lewis QC, Chief Justice of the Falkland Islands, that the decision-making process was biased and lacked transparency.
Mr Street said: “All I wanted to do is to build a decent business in fishing that is British, would pay tax in Britain and the Falklands, and create jobs.
“I submitted a 1,000-page document with my application for the fishing licence and they rejected me in one page. I mean, we now have Brexit, which we are told is a wonderful opportunity to be in control of our own destiny – yet they say we are still not going to help you.”
A Foreign Office spokesman said: “The recent licensing round resulted in three of six licences being awarded to British vessels, each flagged to the UK overseas territory St Helena, chartered and operated by a British company.”